Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

A Guide to The Cox-McPherson Ledgers and Papers, Accession 38-11, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

The Cox-McPherson Papers were given to the Library by Mrs. E.H. McPherson of Charlottesville, Virginia , in 1938 .

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Genealogical Note

Leroy Wesley Cox was the son of Dr. William Cox and Mary Elizabeth (Lacy) Cox and had the following brothers and sisters: A.D. Cox , Almira Josephine Cox , Lucian N. Cox , E.M. Cox and Panthea Adelaide Cox . In 1871, Leroy Wesley Cox married Annie Eliza Foster (daughter of Nelson Foster and Annie Eliza Oaks ) and produced the following offspring: Lucian Franklin Cox , Edgar Nelson Cox , Mary Eliza Cox (Mrs. Thomas Brown ), Annie Leroy cox (Mrs. A.P. Dennis ), Leroy Wesley Cox , Amelia Foster Cox (Mrs. J.F. Powell ), and Almira Josephine Cox (Mrs. E.H. McPherson ).

Scope and Content

This collection consists of 209 items (2 Hollinger boxes;.5 linear feet), 1758-1949, chiefly papers and bound volumes of the Cox and McPherson families. The papers include: Bible records for the children of John Humber and Elizabeth Humber , the Cox family , and the Lacy family ; a poem, "The Late Fire in Charlottesville, Virginia "; a Knights of Pythias Certificate belonging to Lewis H. Brown ; Precinct Poll books for Charlottesville , and printed material concerning the Women's Christian Temperance Union .

Other items in the papers include: a photograph of Miss Almira Josephine Cox and her four nieces, Amelia Foster Christian Cox , Annie Leroy Cox , Mary Elizabeth Cox and Almira Josephine Cox , who were all children of Leroy Wesley Cox and Ann Eliza Foster Cox ; and a photostat of The Soldiers Almanac.

There are several folders of material pertaining to Leroy Wesley Cox (1845-1938), a carriage and wagon manufacturer of Charlottesville, Virginia , and his involvement in the Republican Party of Charlottesville , 1896-1922. Among these papers are some of the Republican Party Papers, which include material about meetings, certificates for presidents of the Republican Campaign Club , voter registration lists for Charlottesville of white women and men, a list of "colored" members of the McKinley and Hobart Club (1896) and both "colored" and white voters of Charlottesville (1896); political broadsides, including several about voter qualifications and conventions; and newsclippings. The folder of political correspondence was created by Leroy Wesley Cox while serving as a secretary and chairman of the Republican City Committee of Charlottesville for over twenty years, 1901-1922.

The collection also contains several bound volumes including: precinct poll books for Charlottesville (1915); records of ward membership (1896 & n.d.); a general record book for the Republican Party of Albemarle County (1894); an account book for L.W. Cox Carriage Manufacturer (1884); an account book for [the Star Theater ] of Charlottesville, Virginia , for "motion picture shows" (1912-1915); a record of A.D. Cox 's estate (1913-1914); and a journal (1916-1917).

Organization

The collection is arranged chronologically with the eight bound volumes filed at the end of the collection.